Monarchy

For related meanings see also Monarch (disambiguation)

A monarchy, (from the Greek monos, "one," and archein, "to rule") is a form of government that has a monarch as Head of State. The distinguishing characteristic of monarchies is that the Head of State holds their office for life, unlike in a republic, where a president is normally elected for a certain amount of time.

The term monarchy is also used to refer to the people and institutions that make up the royal establishment, or to the realm in which the monarchy functions. Elective monarchies, distinguished by the monarchs being appointed for life, have in most cases been succeeded by hereditary monarchies. In the hereditary system, the position of monarch involves inheritance according to an order of succession, usually within one royal family tracing its origin back to a historical dynasty or bloodline. In some cases the royal family may claim to hold authority by virtue of God's choosing, or other religious-based authority.

In most countries with monarchies, the monarch serves as a symbol of continuity and statehood. Many states have a strong convention against the monarch becoming involved in partisan politics (the Central African Empire was an exception). In some cases, the symbolism of monarchy alongside the symbolism of democracy can lead to division over the apparently contradictory principles.

History

Monarchies are one of the oldest forms of government, with echoes in the leadership of tribal chiefs. Many monarchies began with the monarch as the local representative and temporary embodiment of the deity: King of Babylon. The monarch often ruled at the pleasure of the deity and was overthrown or sacrificed when it became apparent that supernatural sanction had been withdrawn: emperors of China, Mayan kings, Achaemenid kings of Persia. Other monarchs derived their power by acclamation of the ruling or of the warrior caste of a clan or group of clans: kings of the Franks, Roman emperors. Even where law is simply the monarch's will, the king must rule by custom.

Since 1800, many of the world's monarchies have ceased to have a monarch and become republics, or become parliamentary democracies. Democratic countries which retain monarchy have by definition limited the monarch's power, with most having become constitutional monarchies. In England, this process began with the Magna Carta of 1215, although it did not reach democratic proportions until after the Glorious Revolution in 1689. Among the few states that have absolute monarchies are Swaziland, Brunei, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait. In Jordan and Morocco, the monarch retains considerable power. There are also recent (2003) developments in Liechtenstein, wherein the regnant prince was given the Constitutional power to dismiss the government at will.

Types of monarchy

In an absolute monarchy, the monarch has power over every aspect of the state, and a constitution may be granted or withdrawn. Modern versions tend to survive only in societies with sufficient technology to allow the concentration and organization of power, but not to allow education and rapid communication to flourish. The economic structure of such monarchies is that of concentrated wealth, with the majority of the population living as agricultural serfs.

In some cases, a hereditary monarchy exists, but actual power resides in the military. This has often historically been the case in Thailand and Japan. In Fascist Italy a monarchy coexisted with a fascist party for longer than such co-existences occurred in Romania, Hungary or Greece. Spain under Francisco Franco was officially a monarchy even though there was no monarch on the throne; upon his death, Franco was succeeded as head of state by King Juan Carlos.

There have also been situations in which a dictator has proclaimed himself monarch in a republican state, thus starting a self-proclaimed monarchy with no historical ties to a previous dynasty. The most famous example of this was Napoleon Bonaparte who made himself Emperor of France after assuming control of the French Republic.

On several occasions throughout history, the same person has served as monarch of separate independent states, in a situation known as a personal union. An empire was traditionally ruled by a monarchy whose leader may have been known by different titles in his different realms. Several former colonies of the British Empire, such as Australia, Canada, Jamaica, and New Zealand, continue to recognize the British Monarch as their own, under a separate title for each country. In other cases, such as England and Scotland, a personal union was the precursor to a merger of the states.

Succession

The rules for selection of monarchs varies from country to country. In constitutional monarchies the rule of succession is generally embodied in a law passed by a representative body, such as a parliament.

The order of succession in most European monarchical states of the 21st century is by primogeniture, meaning the eldest son of the monarch is first in line, followed by his male, then female siblings in order of age. In earlier times, the succession was often unclear and this led to a number of wars. Currently, there is some controversy over the succession laws of some monarchies in the European Union (EU), such as that of the United Kingdom (UK) or the Scandinavian monarchies, which require their monarch to be of a certain faith (in the UK under the Act of Settlement 1701). This has been challenged as violating EU rules that prohibit religious disqualification for positions of state authority.

Some autocratic states can appear to have introduced inheritance for the head of state without declaring themselves to be monarchies, such as Syria and North Korea. See family dictatorship.

Destruction of monarchies

Monarchies can come to an end in several ways. There may be a revolution in which the monarchy is overthrown; or, as in Italy, there may be a referendum in which the electorate decides to form a republic. In some cases, as with England and Spain, the monarchy has been overthrown and then restored. Countries may regard themselves as monarchies without a named monarch, as Spain did from 1947 to 1975, and Hungary from 1920 to 1944.

A person who claims to be the legitimate heir to a deposed monarchy is called a pretender.

See also abolished monarchies for a list of recently abolished monarchies.

Unusual examples

Sometimes, component members of federal states are monarchies, even though the federal state as a whole is not; for example each of the emirates that form the United Arab Emirates has its own monarch (an emir).

Another unique situation is Malaysia, in which the national king, called the Yang di-Pertuan Agong or Paramount Ruler, is elected for a five year term from and by the nine sultans who are the hereditary rulers of the States of the Malay peninsula.

In addition to his spiritual role, the Pope is the monarch of the Vatican City. He is elected by (and customarily from among) the College of Cardinals. (Since the Catholic episcopate is celibate, naturally there can be no official hereditary succession to the papal throne.)

Andorra has two co-princes, of which one is the Bishop of Urgell in Spain, and the other is the President of France—a unique case where an independent country's monarch is democratically elected by the citizens of another country.

Current monarchies

(see also List of countries by system of government)

State	Title	Extent	Currently	Notes
Andorra	Co-prince	Constitutional principality	Jacques Chirac and Joan Enric Vives Sicília	Under suzerainty of the Bishop of Urgell and count of Foix.
Bahrain	King	Semi-constitutional kingdom	Hamad ibn Isa al-Khalifah	Known as "emir" until 2002.
Belgium	King of the Belgians	Constitutional kingdom	Albert II
Bhutan	Dragon King	Absolute kingdom	Jigme Singye Wangchuck
Brunei	Sultan	Constitutional sultanate	Jigme Singye Wangchuck
Cambodia	King	Constitutional kingdom	Norodom Sihamoni	Reinstituted in 1993.
Denmark	King/Queen	Constitutional kingdom	Margrethe II of Denmark	Also queen of Greenland and the Faroe Islands. Act of Succession revised in 1953 to allow for female monarchs.
Japan	Emperor	Constitutional	Akihito	Figurehead since Japanese defeat in World War II.
Jordan	Hashemite King	Semi-constitutional Hashemite kingdom	Abdullah II	Monarchy established by United Kingdom in 1921.
Kuwait	Emir	Semi-constitutional emirate	Jaber Al-Sabah	Known as "sheikh" until 1961.
Lesotho	King	Constitutional kingdom	Letsie III	Known as "Paramount Chief" until 1965.
Liechtenstein	Prince	Semi-constitutional principality	Hans-Adam II	Some powers delegated to Prince Alois.
Luxembourg	Grand Duke/Duchess	Constitutional grand duchy	Henri	Ruled by the king of the Netherlands until 1890.
Malaysia	Yang di-Pertuan Agong or "Paramount Ruler"	Constitutional federation	Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin	Position rotates between nine rulers of the Malay states.
Monaco	Sovereign Prince	Semi-constitutional principality	Albert II
Morocco	King	Semi-constitutional kingdom	Mohammed VI	Morocco currently occupies Western Sahara.
Nepal	King	Absolute kingdom	Gyanendra	Dissolved the parliament in 2005 due to Nepalese civil war, vowing to return democratic rule within three years.
Kingdom of the Netherlands	King/Queen	Constitutional kingdom	Beatrix	Also queen of Aruba and Netherlands Antilles.
Norway	King	Constitutional kingdom	Harald V	Also king of Bouvet Island, Jan Mayen, and Svalbard.
Oman	Sultan	Absolute sultanate	Qaboos
Qatar	Emir	Absolute emirate	Hamad bin Khalifa
Samoa	Chief or "o le Ao o le Malo"	Constitutional kingdom	Malietoa Tanumafili II
Saudi Arabia	King	Absolute kingdom	Abdullah	Saudi Arabia was unified in 1932.
Spain	King/Queen	Constitutional kingdom	Juan Carlos I	Also king of Canary Islands, Ceuta, and Melilla, and holds the title King of Jerusalem. Monarchy was restored in 1975.
Swaziland	King (also Indovuzaki (lit. She-Elephant) or Queen Mother)	Absolute kingdom	Mswati III (and Ntombi)	Currently democratizing.
Sweden	King	Constitutional kingdom	Carl XVI Gustaf
Thailand	King or Rama	Constitutional kingdom	Bhumibol Adulyadej
Tonga	King/Queen	Absolute kingdom	Taufa'ahau Tupou IV
United Arab Emirates	President	Constitutional federation	Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahayan	Position rotates between seven rulers of the Trucial states.
United Kingdom	King/Queen	Constitutional kingdom	Elizabeth II	Also queen of Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, British Indian Ocean Territory, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Jersey, Isle of Man, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena, Ascension Island, Tristan da Cunha, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands. See Commonwealth Realm below.
Vatican City (Holy See)	Sovereign of the Vatican City, most commonly "Pope"	Absolute theocracy	Benedict XVI

Commonwealth Realm: The following sovereign states are part of the Commonwealth of Nations, and recognize the British monarch as the sovereign head of state. With the exception of the United Kingdom itself, there is a Governor-General that represents the current monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. See also List of Titles and Honours of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
State	Governor-General
Antigua and Barbuda	Sir James Carlisle
Australia	Michael Jeffery
the Bahamas	Dame Ivy Dumont
Barbados	Sir Clifford Husbands
Belize	Sir Colville Young
Canada	Michaëlle Jean
Grenada	Sir Daniel Williams
Jamaica	Sir Howard Cooke
New Zealand, Cook Islands, Niue	Dame Silvia Cartwright
Papua New Guinea	Sir Paulias Matane
Saint Kitts and Nevis	Sir Cuthbert Sebastian
Saint Lucia	Dame Pearlette Louisy
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Ralph Gonsalves
Solomon Islands	Sir Nathaniel Waena
Tuvalu	Filoimea Telito

Other regions
Territory	Title	Currently	Notes
Ankole (Uganda)	Omugabe	Ntare VI	Due to constitutional reform in 1993, the government of Uganda restored several traditional monarchies.
Buganda (Uganda)	Kabaka and Nnabagereka	Muwenda Mutebi II and Sylvia Nagginda	Due to constitutional reform in 1993, the government of Uganda restored several traditional monarchies.
Bunyoro (Uganda)	Omukama	Iguru	Due to constitutional reform in 1993, the government of Uganda restored several traditional monarchies.
Busago (Uganda)	Kyabazinga	Henry Wako Muloki	Due to constitutional reform in 1993, the government of Uganda restored several traditional monarchies.
Sigave (Wallis and Futuna)	King	Visesio Moeliku	The Council of the Territory of Wallis and Futuna consists of three kings and three members appointed by the high administrator on the advice of the Territorial Assembly.
Tibet (occupied by the People's Republic of China)	Dalai Lama	Tenzin Gyatso	The current Dalai Lama leads a theocratic government in exile, located in Dharamsala, India. He is attempting a process of democratization.
Toro (Uganda)	Omukama	Rukidi IV	Due to constitutional reform in 1993, the government of Uganda restored several traditional monarchies.
Tu'a (Alo) (Wallis and Futuna)	King	Soane Patita Maituku	The Council of the Territory of Wallis and Futuna consists of three kings and three members appointed by the high administrator on the advice of the Territorial Assembly.
Uvea (Wallis and Futuna)	King	Tomasi Kulimoetoke II	The Council of the Territory of Wallis and Futuna consists of three kings and three members appointed by the high administrator on the advice of the Territorial Assembly.
Zululand (South Africa)	King	Goodwill Zwelethini kaBhekuzulu	Although the king does not hold any direct political power, he is provided a stipend by the government of South Africa, and holds considerable sway over more traditionalist Zulu people in the KwaZulu-Natal Province.

In many countries that are legally republics, there is an heir to the throne who is recognized by part of the nation. A list of such countries is available in the pretender article.

See also

• Abolished monarchies
• Canadian monarchy
• Dutch monarchy
• Emperor of Japan
• Family as a model for the state
• Feudalism
• Theocracy
• Indonesian Monarchies
• Monarchies of Ethiopia
• List of Nigerian traditional states
• Cokossian Monarchy
• Kotokolian Monarchy
• Monarchies of Burma

External links

• The Monarchist League
• Theodore's Royalty and Monarchy Page